Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) is an emerging design approach for constructing Information Technology (IT) applications, particularly in the telecommunications industry. The classical approach to network architecture is based upon fragmented, purpose built hardware for implementing network functions—also known as Physical Network Functions (PNFs) (e.g. firewalls, Deep Packet Inspectors (DPI)), Network Address Translators (NAT)) which require physical installation at every site at which they are needed. In contrast, NFV aims to consolidate many network equipment types onto, for example, standardized high volume servers, switches, and storage through the implementation of Virtualized Network Functions (VNFs) in software which can run on a range of standard hardware. Furthermore, NFV aims to transform network operations because the VNFs can be dynamically moved to, or instantiated in, various locations in the network as required without the need for installation of new hardware.
Allocation of resources to a VNF is typically made via an NFV Orchestrator (NFVO), which includes the system overall resource management view. In cases where the NFVO is bypassed in resource allocation, the consistency of the overall resource management view can be compromised, reducing the efficiency of the system resulting in resources being lost. It is an object of the implementations described herein to mitigate against at least some of these problems.